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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27173305">lemonade</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamiizumi/pseuds/Kamiizumi'>Kamiizumi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Lemons, Lots of Lemons, M/M, also meet cute with cracky elements lmao, bang chan is NOT a help, minsung - Freeform, minsung neighbors!, minsung season | colourful autumn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:34:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,570</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27173305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamiizumi/pseuds/Kamiizumi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Granted, the apartment he just moved into was marvelous in completely affordable, fresh-out-of-college standards. Spacious enough for guests, plenty of room for his cats to roam, and was within walking distance of the nearest shopping plaza – complete with a supermarket and various food establishments. Everything seemed hunky-dory to Minho when he moved in; this was three days ago.</p><p>	Now, his story isn’t about ghosts or stalkers, no. The current bane of his existence is something a bit more mundane if one could even consider it that. His current dilemma revolved around a certain, rotund, roughly textured fruit of the citrus variety – lemons, to be exact. Bright, ripe, yellow lemons.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>MINSUNG SEASON: Colourful Autumn 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>lemonade</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy day 3 of minsung season [y e l l o w]!</p><p>for this one, my inspirations were just lots of surprise, alarm, and of course, lemons lmao. i really enjoyed writing this piece and maybe i'll revisit it again one day, but for now, thank you for clicking and I hope you enjoy! and if you wanna see more submissions for the event, don't forget to check out https://twitter.com/minsungseason !</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Dude, someone – </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> is out to get me today.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Relax; you just moved there. You literally said the apartment was ‘perfect’. It can’t already be that bad, can it – </span>
  </em>
  <span>“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Minho taps his foot impatiently. “You ever been attacked by lemons before?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>E-Excuse me…?!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You heard me right.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chan’s tone is beyond exasperated, but he remedies it with a breathy laugh. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re joking, right? I need some context first and foremost.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Granted, the apartment he just moved into was </span>
  <em>
    <span>marvelous</span>
  </em>
  <span> in completely affordable, fresh-out-of-college standards. Spacious enough for guests, plenty of room for his cats to roam, and was within walking distance of the nearest shopping plaza – complete with a supermarket and various food establishments. Everything seemed hunky-dory to Minho when he moved in; this was </span>
  <em>
    <span>three days ago</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now, his story isn’t about ghosts or stalkers, no. The current bane of his existence is something a bit more mundane if one could even consider it that. His current dilemma revolved around a certain, </span>
  <em>
    <span>rotund</span>
  </em>
  <span>, roughly textured fruit of the citrus variety – lemons, to be exact. Bright, ripe, yellow lemons.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Chan laughs over the call and Minho’s face can’t furrow any further or else his facial features would implode on themselves. Minho’s seriousness speaks for itself when he refuses to answer Chan’s laugh, leaving the older of the two in complete silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>...You’re joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do I sound like I’m joking?! I could have </span>
  <em>
    <span>died</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Chan. And then I would be haunting this nice apartment because of some </span>
  <em>
    <span>lemons</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It sounds more like you have some unruly neighbors to be talking to. Why not file a complaint with the landlord?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Minho sighs and leans back against his kitchen counter, just as one of his cats perched on top began rubbing itself against his arm. “I think that’s bad etiquette. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> moved here three days ago, I can’t be causing fights with my neighbors. Plus I signed a lease, dude.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, what exactly are you supposed to do? Call the cops because someone’s leaving lemons around? Did you happen to develop a sudden phobia of citrus fruits?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Minho regales him with the </span>
  <em>
    <span>first</span>
  </em>
  <span> incident, just earlier that week when he was carrying something back from his car into the building when he noticed the inconspicuous citrine fruit laying on the walkway leading into the complex. Curiosity killing the cat, he supposed, was his downfall, because stopping to inspect the lonesome fruit resulted in </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> hitting on the top of his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A moment of clarity and a curse word muttered aside, it immediately came to his attention that it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>another</span>
  </em>
  <span> lemon that just attacked him, as the second one immediately bounced onto the sidewalk next to the original lemon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the – “</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span> they started hitting him on the head one by one,  like someone literally was pouring rocks out of a bucket from the second-floor landing...except these weren’t rocks, they were </span>
  <em>
    <span>lemons</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh for </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> – </span>
  <em>
    <span>what the fuck?!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Minho dodged into the building just to see a deluge of lemons hitting the ground where he once stood, and simply watched with the craziest of looks painted on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next incident happened just earlier that morning, approximately twenty minutes to the second Minho ducked back into his apartment to pull up his phone and dial Chan’s number. He was merely retrieving his mail and had been on the way back to his apartment when he stepped right onto what he originally thought was someone’s toy ball...but instead was a juicy lemon. Minho might have fallen and smashed his head into the ground had he not caught himself on the nearest wall...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Yeah, so that was that.” Minho pouts as if Chan himself is standing right in front of him. Chan’s laughter only grows louder over the phone call and Minho has to drag his phone away from his ear for a brief moment, hearing the other man’s hollering emitting from the receiver.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Wait, that’s fucking funny. I wish I had seen that.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you’re not helping at all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t know what you want me to say. You want me to call you an exorcist? Wear a mask and intimidate them with a baseball bat?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Chan sighs deeply, enough to be audible over the phone, and the call goes silent for a few seconds. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I really think you should just talk to your landlord about it. You said they were nice, right?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nice enough not to charge me triple for having all three of my cats on the lease.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yikes. I still think you should talk to them about the lemons...no matter how ridiculous it sounds.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Fine. I’ll go talk with my landlord right now; he should be in the office. But if everything goes wrong, you owe me a case of beer and dakgalbi.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hey – </span>
  </em>
  <span>“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bye!” Minho cheekily smiles as he presses the big red button on his screen, before pocketing his phone and eyeing his front door like the final boss in a video game. For whatever reason, it seemed any moment now a giant piece of yellow citrus was going to crash through his walls like the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kool-Aid Man</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes a moment to scratch behind the ears of the cat perched on his kitchen counter, almost like asking for a blessing or an omen of good fortune, before inhaling as deep as he could and stepping towards the door. “Here goes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>...Minho is mere seconds away from his front door and just passing by the stairwell when a sound, almost like distant, thundering footsteps, starts echoing from above. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees them – the telltale yellow fruits rolling up from the topmost step like an army cresting over a hill. Minho’s eyes widen as they begin falling and rolling down the stairs by the dozen, and something in him urges him to make a run for it but – </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“S-Shit, not again – </span>
  <em>
    <span>woOAAAH!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyebrows nearly shoot up behind his bangs as a young man appears at the top of the stairs, almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>chasing</span>
  </em>
  <span> after the lemons. For a brief moment, it almost seems like slow motion, when Minho sees the young man’s sneaker take an unfortunate misstep right on top of one of the accursed fruits, sending tumbling and flying off that topmost step. A split second later, Minho is darting forward </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>– </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah...fuck…!” Minho winces, suddenly feeling the hard ground underneath him and an even </span>
  <em>
    <span>heavier</span>
  </em>
  <span> presence on top of his body. When finally he opens his eyes...that same young man is right there on top of him, looking him straight in the eye.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh...oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>God</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you saved me…! Thank you so much!” Minho groans and lifts his head to momentarily survey his surroundings; yes, he is in fact still on the floor, now surrounded by lemons. When he returns his attention to the boy crushing him, he’s already sat up, his cheeks filled out with a happy beam. “...I-I’m sorry, I’m pretty heavy, huh? Here; lemme help you up, dude.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Minho can’t help but grimace at the sight of the demon fruits littered in the hallway but takes the stranger’s hand as he gets up off the floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m so sorry, I’m really clumsy, but that could have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>super bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> if you weren’t there to – “</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s like a lightbulb clicks above Minho’s head. He swiftly turns to the other man with a finger to his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>...Y-You! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> the fucker that’s been tormenting me with these goddamn lemons?!” Minho nearly goes in for a punch but the young man has suddenly raised his hands in defense, his once gleeful expression melting into that of pure terror.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“P-Please, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone! I’ve just been trying to get rid of these lemons because I have too many and – “</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait, wait, hold up – why do you have so many lemons?” Minho relents and lowers his fist to stare at the lemon boy inquisitively instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pouts at Minho from behind his trembling hands, cheeks once again filled out like balloons. “...My relatives work at a lemon farm and...they had a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> bountiful harvest this year.” Under Minho’s softening but still warden-like gaze, he opts to stare at the floor, bringing his hands down to twiddle his thumbs instead. “I...have literal buckets full of lemons upstairs; I was actually having trouble moving them up from my car because I live on the third floor and they’re so </span>
  <em>
    <span>heavy</span>
  </em>
  <span> – “</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lightbulb glows even brighter, as Minho remembers the barrage of lemons that assaulted him from the second floor of the stairwell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...and I thought I might be able to get rid of some by giving them away to our neighbors.” Lemon Boy stops for a moment to tilt his head at Minho, and Minho decides to mirror his curious expression. “You’re...the new tenant, right? I saw you moving in this past weekend. I-I’m Jisung, by the way.” A hopeful smile breaks across Jisung’s tense features, and perhaps some of the ire still stored inside Minho fades away bit by bit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lee Minho,” he replies curtly, nodding with his own version of a smile. “Just call me Minho.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, Minho…” Jisung laughs awkwardly, but in a genuine way that breaks Minho’s composure. “...I don’t suppose you’re in the mood to make some lemonade?”</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <span>Minho sighs and chuckles dryly. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Well</span>
  </em>
  <span>, when life gives you lemons…”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>anyway LEMONS. thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! if you wanna see more submission, please check out https://twitter.com/minsungseason !</p></blockquote></div></div>
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